It may be paradoxical, but most Japanese people seem a) to want to conform and b) to be happy to do completely immature things in public. Witness that first checklist: hundreds and thousands of girls in hooped socks, burned with orange-glow fake tans, and wearing preposterously big wigs. Just because the others do it! And yet, at the same time, there is a someone trying to win an adorable Pooh-san (Winnie the Pooh) trapped in a "UFO" machine. And just down the way, there is a circle of teddy boys dancing to Elvis classics booming from a ghetto blaster. Welcome to Japan!
Inside the arcades, that supreme eclecticism remains very much in evidence. It's no secret that arcade games have been on life support for some years, but in Japan the situation isn't quite so bad. The AOU show (arcade operators' equivalent of the Tokyo Game Show) is still held annually. There are new games that slip into the margins, and there are new games that become part of the twisting narrative of Japanese pop.
These days, the really popular titles offer something that Japanese citizens cannot afford to have at home: networked games. (A cashed-up Tokyo kid can buy the equipment to set up a LAN, but he can't set it up -- there's only space in his apartment for one futon, a TV, and a packet of Marlboros.)
One of Sega's most successful games of recent times is a networked soccer management simulation. The seating arrangement in Sega's Japan-wide game centers reminds me of a classroom: "All face the front, now, young people, it's time to coach an Italian football team!" ("Soccer" is American for "football" and "football" is English for the game of "soccer" that is played, very poorly, in Japan. Did I mention that I'm British?)
Whatever your sporting preference, there is undoubtedly something most appealing about the prospect of pitting your wits against a room full of gamers. And that's what Sega offers in Japan's arcades. Konami provides a similar service with its numerous networked D&D clones.
Conformity
In another world -- the planet of Adrenalin -- there is a different type of networked attraction. The beauty of Daytona USA all those years back is ripe for rejuvenation; Mario Kart is power-sliding into view.
However, as interesting as all this guff is, the simple and sad truth is that arcades are no longer the place to be. For Japanese kids, there are countless other hotspots which are much hotter than game centers. While Japan's arcades can easily subsist on the 100Yen coins of otaku and businessmen, the flourish of prosperity is as distantly removed as the memory of Japan pre-bust, the euphoric '90s.
If you've seen Lost In Translation (and if you haven't, what excuse do you have?), then you'll have gazed at Scarlett as she gazed at Guitar Freaks and Pop'N Music players and smiled as she subsequently smiled that adorable smile. Yes, when Japanese kids go to game centers, they have fun.
It hits me like a bolt from the turquoise sky that the Japanese are not bitter, not snobby, and not cynical. Certainly arcades have enjoyed their era of fame in Japan, but even now, when the game center is nothing but a B-list celebrity looking for an interviewer, the Japanese will not discard it and they shall not mock it either.
Game centers are fun places and everyone likes fun. So, as with karaoke and pachinko (rules always have exceptions) and kaiten sushi restaurants (where the plates are on belt circuits), let me assure you that arcades will continue to scream and blare from the bustle of Japan's electric streets. Speaking of which, I rather fancy a game of Taiko no Tatsujin. See you soon!
